From: John Cuccia 

On Wed, 05 Apr 2006 19:59:38 -0400, "Gary Wiltshire"
 wrote:

>> Bollox. In that period people in the north kept slaves. It was only
>> later that the northerners started to get a bit shirty about it. Heck
>> your Fugitive Slave Law made it such that slaves only became free when
>> they' actually made it into Canada.
>
>Bollox, yourself.  There were indeed free blacks in the north from the
>beginning.

So too were there free blacks in the South and throughout the Caribbean
during the era of slavery.

http://www.frenchquarter.com/history/freepeople.php
Jean-Louis Dolliole was one of thousands of free people of color whose
legacies survive in neighborhoods, church life, business, politics, music,
writing and Francophone culture. Their records abound in local archives,
dating from the 18th century until the Civil War and later. Among important
builders were Pablo Cheval, Paul Mandeville, Bazile D‚d‚, August Philippe,
Francois Darby, Charles Dupard, Manuel Moreau, Francois Boisdor‚, Louis
Barthelemy Rey, the Dollioles, Toby Dominique, Mytille Courcelle, Francois
Fils, Florville Foy, Pierre Rillieux, and Joseph Chateau

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